


Coffee and a Memory of Prague

by LiterallyThePresident



Series: SI-9 [3]
Category: King Falls AM (Podcast), Wolf 359 (Radio)
Genre: Ben is a jealous boy, Easter egg references to The Magnus Archives and Night Vale, Jacobi is trying hard to pretend that he’s okay, Mentions of hinted Kepler/Jacobi, Mostly fluff with only a little angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-26
Updated: 2019-04-26
Packaged: 2020-02-04 13:27:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18605443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiterallyThePresident/pseuds/LiterallyThePresident
Summary: But Ben had stopped paying attention to Sammy because it was then that he recognized that voice. He’d heard it before over the phone and hated every second of it, the man on Sammy’s couch was that Jacobi prick! The one that called Sammy his best friend!“You!” he squawked, nearly dropping the pizza in indignation, “You’re the asshole!”





	Coffee and a Memory of Prague

Ben arrived at Sammy’s house with pizza, determination, and a rant fully prepared. This was the last time Sammy bailed on him without so much as a phone call or a text! Ben would set him straight but good! He let himself in with the key Sammy had given him and strode towards the living area, huffy and riled and ready for war. 

Sammy was sitting at the table in his little kitchenette with his head in his hands. He jolted when Ben opened the door, standing up halfway as if preparing to fight. He relaxed when he saw Ben, some unseen tension in his shoulders loosening at the sight of him.

“Ben.” he sighed with a small smile, “What are you... Oh,  _shit_ , we had plans. Ben, I’m so sorry...” but Ben’s attention had already been drawn towards the couch, where an unfamiliar man was fast asleep on his side, looking utterly at home.

“Uh...” Ben blinked, “Friend of yours?”

“Um... yeah.” Sammy sighed, “A friend. He needed a place to crash.”

“Colonel...” the man mumbled quietly in his sleep, looking distressed in a way only someone dreaming could, “Please...” Sammy’s eyes tightened, and he looked at the man with a curious mix of protectiveness and regret. But Ben had stopped paying attention to Sammy because it was then that he recognized that voice. He’d heard it before over the phone and hated every second of it, the man on Sammy’s couch was that Jacobi prick! The one that called Sammy his best friend!

“You!” he squawked, nearly dropping the pizza in indignation, “You’re the asshole!”

“Ben!” Sammy exclaimed, but Jacobi was already stirring awake, blinking at them in the dim light.

“Stevens?” he lifted his head, and Ben was momentarily taken aback by the massive burn scar that took up a good chunk of the left side of his face, marring the otherwise nice features, “Oh. Hey, Arnold. Fancy meeting you here.”

“I-In _my_ best  friend’s house!” he exclaimed, getting over his momentary distraction, “And how do you know my name!?”

“Geez, do you have to yell?”

“I am yelling a perfect amount for someone in my situation!”

“Guys.” Sammy sighed, earning an eye roll from Jacobi, “Chill.”

“Stevens, he’s adorable.” Jacobi smirked, sitting up fully and rubbing at his face, “Ugh, how long was I out?”

“A few hours.” Sammy shrugged, “It’s seven.”

“Gross.”

“Not as gross as your breath must be right now.” the corner of Sammy’s mouth lifted a little, “Make room for Ben and I’ll get you some coffee.”

“Stevens, I could kiss you.” Jacobi groaned, and Sammy laughed.

“Remember that last time you tried that? Cutter’s big gala?” he snorted, “Kepler glared at me so hard I thought he’d shoot me.” A flash of pain crossed Jacobi’s face at the mention of this Kepler, but he hid it almost as quickly as Ben saw it. 

“Yeah.” he recovered smoothly, grinning and shooting a glance at Ben before continuing, “And I like to live dangerously so I got real cozy with you just to see how far I could push him. Like Russian roulette but with a bitey Major.”

“You two were so fucked up.” Sammy chuckled as he stood up, “Remember the look on his face when I put my hands on your ass?”

“Poetry.” he giggled, and Ben puffed up, indignant at being ignored. He felt a spark of jealousy in his chest as he watched the easy way that talked. An ease it had taken Ben _weeks_ to  earn. Sammy and Jacobi clearly had a long history, and Ben _hated_ it . Sammy, to his credit, seemed to notice his disquiet.

“Ben. Want some coffee?” he asked softly, his eyes earnest.

“Please.” Ben gave up on having Sammy all to himself and sat on the couch, deliberately taking up more space than necessary to annoy Jacobi. If the man noticed, he didn’t say anything.

“You really know how to pick ‘em, Stevens.” Jacobi yawned again, “Where’d you find this guy?”

“I wandered into his town and he adopted me.” Sammy replied without missing a beat, “Seems to be a habit of mine.”

“Getting adopted by poor well-intentioned innocents?” Jacobi snorted, and Sammy chuckled.

“Yup.”

“Thought you learned your lesson on that after that business in London.”

“Jacobi, when have I ever learned my lesson about anything?” Sammy shot him a smirk, “And I am not to blame for that, Blackwood had a fire extinguisher and he wasn’t afraid to use it.”

“Am I missing something?” Ben asked with barely concealed irritation, torn between jealousy of their history and curiosity about Sammy’s life before King Falls. Jacobi clapped him on the shoulder with a laugh.

“Stevens, you never told your boy here about the time you, a hardened SI-9 agent, got your ass handed to you by a mousy file clerk with a fire extinguisher?”

“Oh, you really wanna go down this road?” Sammy laughed, “Need I remind you of your misadventure in the Southwest? You know, the one where your team found you wandering the desert in a delirious daze after you went MIA for a whole month? What were you rambling about again? Something about hooded figures and black helicopters?”

“No need for that.” Jacobi huffed, acquiescing, “But I still insist that I wasn’t dreaming all that shit, there was a fucking five-headed dragon.”

“Uh huh.” Sammy nodded in that disbelieving tone, “Cream and sugar?”

“Please.” Jacobi leaned back into the couch and crossing his legs, “So Arnold, you been buddy buddy with Stevens long?”

“Since he came to King Falls.” he replied a little defensively, “And he’s my best friend.”

“So you’ve said.” Jacobi raised an eyebrow, “Multiple times. You got some unresolved dependency issues?”

“I do not!” he bristled, “You got some... unresolved... rudeness issues!?” Jacobi, much to Ben’s ire, only laughed brightly at that.

“Stevens, I love this guy!” he laughed, “When you said he was adorable, I didn’t really believe you.”

“What did I tell you?” Sammy chuckled, “He’s a character. He’s great.”

“Yeah.” Ben crossed his arms with a huff, “I’m great.”

“You are.” Sammy gave him a smile that looked sincere, “I mean that, Ben.” Ben relaxed a little at that, slightly more at ease. It didn’t mean he was happy about Jacobi’s presence though. 

“So why did you decide to crash here of all places?” Ben asked Jacobi with suspicion, not bothering to be nice about it. Jacobi just shrugged.

“Been working hard lately, was in the area. Lo-Isabel, my current partner in crime, kicked me out for the night so I figured Stevens wouldn’t mind if I crashed here.”

“Despite my warning him that he’s doing my laundry in return.” Sammy chuckled, “And he knows not to try and wiggle out of it, too. Last time he tried that, I told Ma-er, his friend about his crippling fear of d... a thing.” he tactfully switched gears at Jacobi’s sharp look. 

“Which was still super rude, she didn’t let it go for weeks.” Jacobi rolled his eyes, but there was fondness there.

“You didn’t think I’d do it.” Sammy laughed.

“Seems to be a habit, people thinking you won’t do something.” Jacobi chuckled, “You are so easily underestimated, my friend. Remember that time in Prague where that guy had a gun to Jack’s head all ‘oh, I’ll kill him, I swear I will’.”

“He was so sure I‘d fold if he threatened Jack.” Sammy chuckled and grabbed the steaming mugs, handing them their coffee and sitting down between him and Jacobi. If he noticed Ben pressing closer into his side than usual, he didn’t say anything.

“And you shot his brother in the face just to prove that he didn’t have the balls!” Jacobi laughed, either not seeing the way Ben’s face paled at that or not caring.

It was one thing to hear about Sammy’s adventures as a spy, it was another thing altogether to hear about his best friend’s more ruthless side. He couldn’t fathom Sammy ever actively wishing someone harm, let alone committing murder. But then, sometimes he forgot that the gentle dad-friend before him was the same man who had marched onto a stage and decked the Mayor. The same friend who had destroyed their radio equipment in a moment of rage, the same friend who had cooly ignored Ben without any apparent trouble for weeks after the notebook incident.

“Ben?” Sammy tilted his head, looking at him with concern, “You okay?”

“Y-Yeah. I guess I’m just...having difficulty picturing you killing someone. Or even holding a gun.” Ben admitted.

“Yeah, Stevens works better with poisons and venoms.” Jacobi shrugged, ignoring the exasperated look Sammy sent his way, “He’s a subtle dude.”

“Subtle.” Ben snorted, “Like hiring a guy to blow up Greg Frickard subtle?”

“That was an accident.” Jacobi grinned, slow and smug, “A dreadful accident that can in no way be traced back to anyone but Frickard himself. Go on, try to tell someone that Stevens orchestrated it, no one will believe you.”

“I would never do that.” Ben glared, “Sammy’s my best friend, I just can’t, like, it’s just-ugh!”

“Astute.” Jacobi smirked, and Ben threw a pillow at him.

“You know what I mean!” he exclaimed, “He’s Sammy! A dad! A pacifist! The guy who was gonna try to stop Herch from shooting Frickard! The guy who hates violence of any kind!”

“Ben.” Sammy sighed, looking almost sad, “Most of that was an act, minus the dad stuff. I’ve killed so many people I’ve lost count. Countless lives, innocent or no. I’m not... Well, I’m not  _good_ , Ben. I’m not the man you thought I was.”

“Sammy-“ Ben started, but Jacobi groaned loudly.

“Save the emotional talks for when I’m not here.” he said rudely, “Stevens, mind if I stay the night? Really don’t wanna deal with Isabel right now.”

“No problem.” Sammy said easily, “This gonna become a habit?”

“Hopefully not.” Jacobi snorted.

“I wouldn’t mind.” Sammy said, sincere in a way that Ben found so comfortingly familiar, “You’re my friend, Daniel. You can talk to me any time.”

“Thanks.” Jacobi turned his head away from him in a show of dismissal, but Ben saw the emotion warring on his face. Huh. Maybe thereactually was more to this guy than Ben had initially assumed?

Still didn’t mean Sammy was his. Because Ben loved Sammy more, and he wasn’t sharing.

“Come over any time.” Sammy patted Jacobi’s back, “Bring your new friends too, make it a party.”

“You know, maybe I will.” Jacobi smiled, “I’ll bring Doug around next time I visit. Guy could use some fresh mountain air.

“Doug?” Sammy blinked, “Eiffel?”

“Yeah.” Jacobi seemed to realize he’d made a misstep, because his lips twisted into a frown at the same time Sammy’s eyes lit up with mischief.

“Is there something going on there?” Sammy grinned, the same grin he wore when he teased Ben about Emily. Jacobi flushed slightly and waved his hand dismissively, and Ben grinned to see someone else on the tail end of Sammy’s teasing.

“Of course not!” Jacobi blustered, “Why would anything be going on?”

“Because you’re smiling like you used to smile about Klein.” Sammy grinned, “So?”

“...Shut up, Stevens.” Jacobi grumbled, “He’s a traumatized amnesiac, even I’m not about to take advantage of that.”

“You’ve gone soft, Jacobi.” but Sammy looked pleased, “But then again, so have I.”

“Ugh. Civilian life.” Jacobi sighed, “And men.”

“As long as he treats you right.” Sammy nodded, “You’re long overdue for a man who does that.”

“Yeah.” Jacobi said softly, “I guess I am.” There was a moment of quiet, everyone lost in their own contemplative worlds, before Sammy broke it.

“Wanna stay for a movie?” he offered, cocking his head towards Ben, “Ben?”

“Uh... sure.” Ben shrugged, “But I wanna pick what we watch.”

“Course.” Sammy smiled, “Moulin Rouge?”

“You know it!”

“Lame.” Jacobi blew a raspberry, “Stevens, your friend has shit movie taste.”

“You’re only saying that because you cried at the end.” Sammy teased, “Also, you’re not one to talk, you think Tremors is poetic cinema.”

“It is!”

“You like Tremors?” Ben’s eyes maybe lit up a little, “Me too!”

“Oh, so Benny boy has a modicum of taste.” Jacobi teased as he settled into the couch, “Good to know he’s more than just a tiny face.”

“ _AVERAGE HE_ -“

**Author's Note:**

> Hooray! More of this au! I’m definitely gonna be exploring Sammy’s more ruthless side at some point


End file.
